SAM backs mandatory jail sentence for illegal logging
Published: Sep 13, 2005 4:02 PM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
Environment group Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) has applauded the move to introduce a mandatory jail sentence for those found guilty of illegal logging activities.
Agreeing that the issuance of compound fines is no deterrent, the environment group is all for courts being allowed to impose a mandatory jail sentence on offenders.
Environment group Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) has applauded the move to introduce a mandatory jail sentence for those found guilty of illegal logging activities.
In a statement, SAM president SM Mohd Idris described the move as a step in "the right direction to address rampant illegal logging".
On Aug 30, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had announced that the government would introduce a one-year mandatory jail sentence.
The penalty, to be inserted into the National Forestry Act 1984 (Amendment 1993), falls under a provision that will set the maximum jail sentence at 20 years, according to a Bernama report which quoted Najib.
Najib said, under the law at present, the penalty consists of compound fines but this has failed to curb illegal logging.
'Protect animals'
Idris also said the natural resources and environment ministry should consider a similar approach to deal with the poaching of animals.
"Last year four tigers, a baby elephant and a rhinoceros were killed by poachers for their meat and organs at the Endau-Rompin National Park in Johor," he noted.
"The poachers, believed to be from Thailand, could be working for syndicates engaged in the illicit trade of wild animals for meat and organs."
He said the act of smuggling is "criminally easy" and that more stringent enforcement of the law would stop such activities.
"Unless there is effective law enforcement against hunting and trade, animals will not receive the protection they need from human predators," he added.
He said the paltry penalties under the Wildlife Protection Act do not sufficiently check the hunting of such animals as rhinoceros and tigers to near extinction.
"The animal smuggling business, centred in China, Europe, Japan and America, could generate about US$30 billion in a year.
"The tentacles of this multi-billion business stretch around the world from poacher to smuggler to trader to consumer. It is the illegal traders who are in it for maximum short-term profits," he added.
In a statement, SAM president SM Mohd Idris described the move as a step in "the right direction to address rampant illegal logging". On Aug 30, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had announced that the government would introduce a one-year mandatory jail sentence.
The penalty, to be inserted into the National Forestry Act 1984 (Amendment 1993), falls under a provision that will set the maximum jail sentence at 20 years, according to a Bernama report which quoted Najib.
Najib said, under the law at present, the penalty consists of compound fines but this has failed to curb illegal logging.
'Protect animals'
Idris also said the natural resources and environment ministry should consider a similar approach to deal with the poaching of animals.
"Last year four tigers, a baby elephant and a rhinoceros were killed by poachers for their meat and organs at the Endau-Rompin National Park in Johor," he noted.
"The poachers, believed to be from Thailand, could be working for syndicates engaged in the illicit trade of wild animals for meat and organs."
He said the act of smuggling is "criminally easy" and that more stringent enforcement of the law would stop such activities.
"Unless there is effective law enforcement against hunting and trade, animals will not receive the protection they need from human predators," he added.
He said the paltry penalties under the Wildlife Protection Act do not sufficiently check the hunting of such animals as rhinoceros and tigers to near extinction.
"The animal smuggling business, centred in China, Europe, Japan and America, could generate about US$30 billion in a year.
"The tentacles of this multi-billion business stretch around the world from poacher to smuggler to trader to consumer. It is the illegal traders who are in it for maximum short-term profits," he added.
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